Safety chiefs plan action on construction’s 4,000 cancer deaths

Construction’s health and safety leaders have met to discuss ways of improving the industry’s dire occupational health record.

UK construction workers are 100 times more likely to die from work-related ill health than accidents, according to the Health in Construction Leadership Group.

There were 35 fatal injuries to construction workers during 2014/15, but the group estimates that around 4,000 construction workers died from cancer caused by exposure to hazardous substances while at work. The majority of these cases are lung diseases caused by exposure to asbestos (2,600 deaths) and silica (600 deaths).

In the same period, around 3,000 workers in the construction sector were suffering with breathing and lung problems they believed were caused or made worse by their work, a rate significantly higher than the average across all industries. One in five workers identified “dusts from stone, cement, bricks or concrete” as a contributing factor.

The Health in Construction Leadership Group is a recently established collaborative group comprising contractors, clients, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), professional bodies, trade associations and trade unions.

More than 150 senior figures responsible for health and safety in the UK construction industry attended the event, “Committing construction to a healthier future – from commitment into action”, which followed the inaugural event in January 2016, when more than 150 chief executives signed a charter committing to improving occupational health.

Andy Mitchell, CEO of the £4bn Thames Tideway project, said: “Our challenge is how we bring health on a par with safety. We need to make transformational changes to eradicate the ill health effects caused by the work we do, and treat health like safety.

“Through the Health in Construction Leadership Group we can share good practice and reach a collective agreement on the best ways to help ensure our workers are working in not just a safe environment, but a healthy one too.”

The event discussed an integrated approach to managing health in the sector and ways to reduce the risk of developing respiratory disease. Those present took away self-assessment tools to develop action plans for their organisations.

Key speakers included Dr Richard Judge, HSE chief executive, and founding members of the Health in Construction Leadership Group, Heather Bryant of Balfour Beatty and Clive Johnson of Land Securities.

The Health in Construction Leadership Group’s mission is to unite the construction industry in eradicating ill health and disease caused by exposure to health hazards.